Tuesday Overnights: Modest Opening Levels for ABC’s ‘For the People’ and NBC’s ‘Rise’

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 7.0/12, NBC: 6.3/11, ABC: 2.4/ 4, Fox and CW: 1.5/ 2 each

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
ABC: + 4, Fox and CW: no change, CBS: – 4, NBC: – 6

Ratings Breakdown:
CBS scored another Tuesday overnight household victory, but NBC will rule in adults 18-49 (and all the key demographics) thanks to rock-solid “The Voice” (#2: 7.3 rating/12 share) and the sophomore season finale of “This Is Us” (#1: 7.7/12 – best since this season-opened on Sept. 26, 2017) from 8-10 p.m. ET. CBS featured its compatible combination of “NCIS” (#1 for the night: 8.3/14 at 8 p.m.), “Bull” (#2: 6.7/11 at 9 p.m.) and “NCIS: New Orleans” (#1: 6.0/11 at 10 p.m.).

In the battle of the new 10 p.m. scripted drama debuts, “Rise” on NBC (#2: 3.8/ 7) bested Shonda Rhimes legal drama “For the People” on ABC (#3: 2.3/ 4) by a considerable 65 percent in the household overnights. But both series trailed CBS’ aforementioned “NCIS: New Orleans” (#1: 6.0/11). “Rise” held only 50 percent of the 9:30 p.m. portion of “This Is Us” (7.6/12), while dropping by 17 percent in the second half-hour (4.1/ 7 to 3.4/ 6). The year-ago time period featured the series-premiere (two episodes) of sitcom “Trial & Error,” which averaged a similar 3.5/ 5 in the overnights.

ABC’s “For the People,” meanwhile, was 28 percent above the season (or series) finale of former time period occupant “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World” one week earlier (1.8/ 3 on March 6). It was also an improvement from brief year-ago time period entry “People Icons” (1.7/ 3 on 3/14/17). But since most new series drop 10 to 20 percent in week two, consider this an anemic opening in the household overnights for “For the People” (and a disappointing one for NBC’s “Rise”).

Earlier in the evening, ABC’s 8-10 p.m. sitcom block – “The Middle” (#3: 3.6/ 6), “Fresh off the Boat” (#3: 2.1/ 3) and two episodes of “black-ish” (#3: avg. 2.2/ 3 from 9-10 p.m.) – was below average.

Elsewhere, The CW was at typical Tuesday overnight levels care of “The Flash” (#4: 1.7/ 3 at 8 p.m.) and freshman “Black Lightning” (#5: 1.2/ 2 at 9 p.m.), which should have no trouble snagging a second season renewal. And Fox opened with an encore telecast of “Lethal Weapon” (#5: 1.5/ 5 at 8 p.m.) into 9-10 p.m. comedies “L.A. To Vegas” (#4: 1.5/ 2) and sophomore “The Mick” (#4: 1.4/ 4). The final eight-episode season of Fox‘s “New Girl” will premiere on Tuesday, April 10 at 9:30 p.m. ET with an hour-long finale on May 15 at 9 p.m. ET.

What follows are the household overnight ratings for Tuesday, March 13 broken out by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Middle”: 3.3/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS”: 8.3/14 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 7.0/12 (#2)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon” (R): 1.6/ 3 (#5)
CW – “The Flash”: 1.8/ 4 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Fresh Off the Boat”: 2.1/ 3 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS”: 8.4/14 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 7.7/13 (#2)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon” (R): 1.5/ 3 (#5)
CW – “The Flash”: 1.7/ 3 (#4)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “black-ish”: 2.3/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “Bull”: 6.7/11 (#1)
NBC – “This Is Us” (season finale): 7.9/13 (#1)
Fox – “LA to Vegas”: 1.5/ 2 (#4)
CW – “Black Lightning”: 1.2/ 2 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “black-ish”: 2.1/ 3 (#3)
CBS – “Bull”: 6.8/11 (#1)
NBC – “This Is Us” (season finale): 7.6/12 (#1)
Fox – “LA to Vegas”: 1.5/ 2 (#4)
CW – “Black Lightning”: 1.1/ 2 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “For the People” (series premiere): 2.4/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: New Orleans”: 6.1/10 (#1)
NBC – “Rise” (series premiere): 4.1/ 7 (#2)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “For the People” (series premiere): 2.2/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: New Orleans”: 5.9/11 (#1)
NBC – “Rise” (series premiere): 3.4/ 6 (#2)

Source: Nielsen Media Research